Permian deposits of Sicily: a review

The complex tectonostratigraphic setting of the Permian rocks of Sicily is outlined in the light of the large mass of new stratigraphic and paleontologic data recently collected by several researcher groups. The Permian deposits occur mostly as tectonic mélanges imbricated in the thrust pile forming the Sicilian fold and thrust belt. Also Mesozoic and Tertiary uncompetent rocks can be found in these mélanges. Several lithostratigraphic units were differentiated among these mostly siliciclastic and clastic-carbonate deep-water deposits, spanning in age from Kungurian up to Changxingian. The Permian deposits are regarded as the originary sedimentary substrate of the deep-water mesocenozoic domains of Sicily. Fossil associations, facies and ages of these deposits are consistent with the existence of a wide and persistent deep-water basin located along the Africa margin since, at least, the early Permian time and connected to the main Tethyan domains.